Arthur Fitzsimons (16 December 1929 – 9 May 2018) was an Irish professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player and manager. An

inside forward In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than Midfielder, midfielders and Defender (association football), d ...

, he notably made over 200 appearances for

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

Career

Originally from Penrose Street, in the shadow of

Shelbourne Park Shelbourne Park is a greyhound racing stadium in the south Dublin inner city suburb of Ringsend. Greyhound Racing Opening The plans to open a greyhound track in Dublin were drawn up by Paddy O’Donoghue, Jerry Collins, Patsy McAlinden and J ...

, the stadium named after Shelbourne, their then home ground, Arthur signed with 'the Shels' from the famous schoolboy nursery club, Johnville. Already well known for his talent at junior level, the scouts were anxious to see how he would perform at this higher level. So well did he perform with 'the Reds', that it is almost forgotten he played for them only one season, 194849, before being transferred over the water. But it was no coincidence that that season was one of the best in the club's history, being in contention until the last match in all four available competitions, finally winning two of them, and finishing runner-up in the others. At the end of the season, he was part of a two-player deal when transferred (with

Peter Desmond Peter Desmond (23 November 1926 in Cork, Ireland – July 1990) was an Irish footballer. Desmond played for several clubs in the League of Ireland and the English League. As an international, Desmond also played for Ireland. Desmond made all f ...

) to

Middlesbrough F.C. Middlesbrough Football Club ( ) is a professional association football club based in Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Nicknamed the Boro, they were fo ...

in the English

First Division 1st Division or First Division may refer to: Military Airborne divisions *1st Parachute Division (Germany) *1st Airborne Division (United Kingdom) * 1st Airmobile Division (Ukraine) * 1st Guards Airborne Division Armoured divisions *1st Armoure ...

. He went on to play in 223 games, scoring 49 goals. His teammates included

Brian Clough Brian Howard Clough ( ; 21 March 1935 – 20 September 2004) was an English football player and manager, primarily known for his successes as a manager with Derby County and Nottingham Forest. He is one of four managers to have won the Englis ...

and

Wilf Mannion Wilfrid James Mannion (16 May 1918 – 14 April 2000) was an English professional footballer who played as an inside forward, making over 350 senior appearances for Middlesbrough. He also played international football for England. With his blonde ...

. In the 1960s, his coaching career took him to

Libya Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...

, where he spent five and a half years in

Tripoli Tripoli or Tripolis (from , meaning "three cities") may refer to: Places Greece *Tripolis (region of Arcadia), a district in ancient Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (Larisaia), an ancient Greek city in the Pelasgiotis district, Thessaly, near Larissa ...

until

Colonel Gaddafi Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi (20 October 2011) was a Libyan military officer, revolutionary, politician and political theorist who ruled Libya from 1969 until his assassination by Libyan rebel forces in 2011. He came to power ...

came to power, when he was advised to leave. In August 1967, he signed for

Drogheda Drogheda ( , ; , meaning "bridge at the ford") is an industrial and port town in County Louth on the east coast of Ireland, north of Dublin. It is located on the Dublin–Belfast corridor on the east coast of Ireland, mostly in County Louth ...

as player-coach, a position he shared with Theo Dunne. In April 1969, his contract was terminated. In June 1969, he was appointed manager of

Shamrock Rovers Shamrock Rovers Football Club is an Irish professional Association football, football club based in Tallaght, South Dublin. The club's senior team competes in the League of Ireland Premier Division and it is List of football clubs by competit ...

, taking over from Liam Tuohy. Despite beating

FC Schalke 04 Fußballclub Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., commonly known as Schalke 04 (), and abbreviated as S04 (), is a professional sports club from the Schalke district of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is best known for its football team, ...

in a 1969-70 European Cup Winners' Cup first leg tie, he was fired two months later. He also played 26 times for the Republic of Ireland national team, scoring 7 goals.

Later life and death

In 2009, Fitzsimons was inducted into the

Football Association of Ireland The Football Association of Ireland (FAI; ) is the governing body for association football in the Republic of Ireland. Organisation The FAI has an executive committee of five members under the president, who receive expenses, as well as a p ...

Hall of Fame. He died aged 88 on 9 May 2018.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fitzsimons, Arthur 1929 births 2018 deaths Association footballers from Dublin (city) Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Republic of Ireland men's international footballers Ireland (FAI) men's international footballers Men's association football forwards Shelbourne F.C. players Middlesbrough F.C. players Lincoln City F.C. players Mansfield Town F.C. players English Football League players League of Ireland managers Drogheda United F.C. managers Shamrock Rovers F.C. managers League of Ireland XI managers Dublin University A.F.C. managers Republic of Ireland association football managers Irish association football coaches Republic of Ireland expatriate association football managers Expatriate football managers in Libya Irish expatriate sportspeople in Libya 20th-century Irish sportsmen